In reading over the news, I came across two stories that horrified me.  In one, an Oregon father of an 18-month old child used a stun gun on his child “multiple times.”  In the other, a Georgia father forced his two young children to eat soup laced with lighter fluid and drugs - hoping to extort money from the Campbell’s soup company.  (Tiara tip to Linda for pointing out this story)  Add to that the story of Michael Devlin, the sick pedophile, who kidnapped two  young boys, and it makes you wonder at the kind of world we’re living in.

Is it any wonder that so many kids are growing up with serious psychological problems?

Dad Accused of Using Stun Gun on Baby

AP

ALBANY, Ore. (Feb. 5) - An Albany father used a 100,000-volt stun gun on his 18-month-old son, police said Monday. Rian Whittman, 23, has been accused of assault and criminal mistreatment. Police said he used it “multiple times” over three weeks. A police spokesman said there were up to 10 instances.

Police said Whittman’s wife, 21, who was not named, reported the abuse on Saturday.

The child was treated at a hospital, police said, and then taken into protective custody by the state Department of Human Services.

Capt. Eric Carter said the police haven’t established a motive for the abuse, nor why it began about three weeks ago.

He said the device was not a Taser weapon, named for the manufacturer, but an older model that’s applied directly to someone’s skin.

 I am just so saddened at what some people will do.  You add to that all the atrocities being committed by Islamic terrorists worldwide, the killing in Darfur and throughout the world.

Ga. Dad Admits Poisoning Children’s Soup

By Associated Press

February 6, 2007, 10:26 PM EST
ATLANTA — A man admitted Tuesday that he tampered with his children’s soup in an attempt to get money from Campbell Soup Co., a prosecutor said.

William Allen Cunningham’s 3-year-old son and 18-month-old daughter were hospitalized twice in January 2006. He forced them first to eat soup laced with hot peppers and lighter fluid, and the second time used the prescription drugs Prozac and Amitriptyline — both used to treat depression — to poison the children, authorities said.

Cunningham, 41, pleaded guilty to communicating false claims, U.S. Attorney David Nahmias said. Under terms of a plea agreement, he faces up to five years in federal prison when he is sentenced April 19.

“He admitted that he put potentially life-threatening foreign substances into soup, which he fed to his two young children and then placed a call to Campbell Soup Co. falsely claiming that the soup had been contaminated,” Nahmias said.
According to prosecutors, Cunningham called Campbell and threatened to sue. Authorities say there was no evidence the soup was tainted when it was bought.

I don’t know the answer.  I don’t even know the questions - other than WHY? and How can we stop things like this from happening?

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